


Sandwiches and Coffee

by readbetweenthelions



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Ficlet, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-12
Updated: 2012-10-12
Packaged: 2017-11-16 04:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/535546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/readbetweenthelions/pseuds/readbetweenthelions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce and Tony have a midnight snack and things get a little existential.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sandwiches and Coffee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daiya_Darko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daiya_Darko/gifts).



> For Daiya, who requested Bruce/Tony + sandwiches and coffee late at night.

“I don’t understand you,” Tony says through a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly. “I’ll never understand you. You _need_ the jelly, to balance out the sandwich!”

“No I don’t,” Bruce says. “I’m perfectly content with a peanut butter sandwich. Maybe I just think that jam is extraneous.”

“Whatever, you’re wrong.” Tony sips his coffee - black, like he likes it, not a hint of sugar or cream even in its general vicinity. It’s the opposite of the way Bruce likes his - loaded with milk and saturated with sugar, so it tastes more like coffee-flavored whipped cream than coffee with cream. It keeps Tony from stealing his coffee, at the very least.

“I think the issue here is that,” Bruce says, slowly. He takes a gentle sip of his coffee, more to keep Tony in suspense than to formulate his words, “You think that there always has to be something else, that everything can be improved, and that nothing is as good on its own as it is with something else.”

Tony snorts. “That is obviously not true. If you’re going to draw that conclusion based on my sandwich, you’ve got a highly biased study there, because you’re not looking at the coffee. See mine? Simple. Delicious. Yours is the one that’s weighed down with milk and sugar and god only knows what else. Maybe if anyone thinks things can’t stand alone, it’s you.”

It’s like this all the time. They’ve been up for a long time now, at least thirty hours, and they’re taking a break for food because they haven’t in at least ten. It always gets philosophical this late at night, despite their collective lack of philosophical training. They were scientists, they weren’t exactly well-equipped to tackle the big existential questions of humanity, especially not over coffee and peanut butter (and jelly, if you were a philistine like Tony) sandwiches. They’d had this debate before, because this was always their late-night snack. Neither of them could be bothered to do more than make the simplest of sandwiches, not when they had work to do.

“Says Tony ‘The Suit And I Are One’ Stark,” Bruce scoffs, watching Tony drain the last of his coffee.

“Well, excuse me,” Tony says. He sets his mug down with a ceramic clatter. “Sorry we can’t all be Bruce ‘Exposed Like A Nerve’ Banner.”

They watch each other levelly for a moment, then laugh. It’s no use arguing - neither of them will win. But it’s just nice to have someone on their level, for once.


End file.
